The Largest Party in the World… coming to AQWorlds!A Maior Festa do mundo.... vindo para o AQWorlds!

As you may know, the Carnaval of Brazil begins next Friday, February 8th. This world-renowned party brings in hundreds of thousands of visitors to the festive streets all across Brazil. Carnaval is all about turning fantasy into reality, and just like AQWorlds, you can transform yourself into anything you want here!

Carnaval began back in 1641 in Rio de Janeiro. But there has never been a Carnaval in-game event in ANY game… until 2013! Starting next Friday, festoon yourself in beautiful Carnaval costumes and journey to the all-new permanent zone of Terra da Festa! In this magical party land, you will find:

WOW! Now that’s A LOT to get your tail-feathers shakin’! And to all our Brazilian friends out there who have experienced Carnaval in real life, we just KNOW you are going to love the Carnaval of Terra da Festa!

Wednesday's Hunt for Graveclaw's Kamas Is On!

It may be that Graveclaw has already had contact with creatures outside his prison! The hunt for the newest version of the Shattersword Kama is on! Battle creatures throughout Lore using the clue below as a starting point for where to look, then slay anything that might fit the hint!

Decipher the clue, defeat the creature, get the prize!

The location of this weapon - and the clue - will change each day, as will the color of the wrapping on the handle! Each item is 0 ACs, so enjoy the free storage after you /party up with your friends and start hunting!

Another ally, Graveclaw's trying: A minion who battles, never falling, undying.

In Graveclaw's shadow, warriors fall and rise again at the Defiler's call!

Wait, Who is Graveclaw?

Graveclaw the Defiler is a monstrous beast defeated and imprisoned by a young King Alteon decades ago. Since then, he has raged inside his prison - Shattersword Cavern - deep below the Forest of Chaos.

In recent years, Empress Gravelyn began sending warriors down to battle him. That activity bled off the strength he used to enhance the powerful magic he controls. What no one foresaw was that the dark magic Graveclaw possesses would be twisted by the earth fairy magic of the caverns! Now he has an army, and he's ready to rise up against Swordhaven AND Shadowfall!

Quibble Coinbiter's Shop Returns Friday!

Who doesn't love art previews? I know I do! A lot of you have been asking to see some of the Darkblood gear that Quibble will bring, and Solrac just sent some in this morning! With this armor, you'll be able to stalk the streets of Falguard, City of Secrets, unnoticed!

Shops Leaving Monday, Announcements Coming!

Australia Day Shop and Stratos/Vokun's Birthday Shops are leaving next Monday. Next Tuesday is the SHUT UP AND TAKE MY RARES drawing! As soon as Reens is feeling better, we'll get an update from her about the in-game moderator hunt.

Defeat Graveclaw the Defiler in Shattersword Cavern!

Prepare for battle, Heroes! Decades ago, a young King Alteon defeated Graveclaw the Defiler, imprisoning him beneath the Forest of Chaos in Shattersword Cavern. To drain off his power, Gravelyn has been sending warriors down to face Graveclaw in battle. But the Cavern’s dark magic combined with Graveclaw’s own power to twist him… and those sent to fight him.

He’s gained enough strength to rise again, and this time he brings an entire army to confront Alteon, Gravelyn, and all those who confined him so many years ago. Head down into Shattersword Cavern and defeat Graveclaw before he can unleash his army against Swordhaven!

ALL players can watch a young King Alteon take on Graveclaw in the Forest of Chaos, but you'll need to upgrade to descend to the depths of Shattersword Cavern and defeat the beast! Find the golden Statue of King Alteon in Battleontown this Friday to begin the adventure!

The Hunt for Graveclaw's Kamas begins TODAY!

It may be that Graveclaw has already had contact with creatures outside his prison! The hunt for the Shattersword Kama is on! Battle creatures throughout Lore using the clue below as a starting point for where to look, then slay anything that might fit the hint!

Decipher the clue, defeat the creature, get the prize!

The location of this weapon - and the clue - will change tomorrow! The item is 0 ACs, so enjoy the free storage after you /party up with your friends and start hunting!

Magic users big and small, Graveclaw will recruit them all. Find the creature, take its prize. Swift comes the Defiler's rise!

Quibble Coinbiter Arrives This Friday!

The traveling sales moglin, Quibble Coinbiter, returns to Battleon THIS FRIDAY with an all-new assortment of rare items (most of which he is willing to part with in exchange for AdventureCoins)!

This shop's theme is Golden Onslaughter/Darkblood, so prepare yourselves for the shiniest and darkest gear yet!

Look for more details on what comes in Quibble's shop later this week!

Leaving later today: Witch Hunter Shop, Boosts!

Both the Witch Hunter shop and the server-wide boosts leave game at midnight tonight! The Season of the Witch Hunter shop will return the next time something wicked this way comes. The server-wide boosts will happen regularly from now on, but we do not have a set schedule. Let us know on the forum, Twitter, and Facebook what special times YOU would like to see them!

Log in to Battle On With MORE Rewards!

Login any time until 12AM EST (midnight server time) on ANY server to get DOUBLE experience points from any battle or quest! Get Double EXP plus extra EXP plus Double REP on member servers!

This boost stacks with the AC XP Boost available in the Class Shop in Battleon, so if you needed help leveling up, today is the to play!

We will be doing more boosts in the future, too! Some of them smaller, some of them different. We can cycle between gold, exp, rep, or rank boosts! Member servers will always get MORE of whatever boost is being offered on all servers.

Starting the AQW Power Weekend Right!

The Darkblood City of Falguard. Its great stone walls and massive oak doors have kept the secrets of the Darkblood safe for centuries... until now.

Months after mysteriously disappearing from Onslaught Tower, Archlord Lionfang has reappeard as Chaos Lord Lionfang and he is turning his chaorrupted army and startling new powers on the city of Falguard!

Join forces with Captain Madra of the Falguard Dreadwatch and safe as many of the Darkblood people from his wrath as you can. His powers are great, but if he unlocks the secret of the Darkblood weapon against Chaos then there will be no stopping him.

The city of Falguard features the Thunderforge Reputation Shop, Daily Rep Quests, repeatable rep grinding quests for Members, a Darkblood Weapon Shop, the Darkblood Armor shop and even the Darkblood Styalist for those of you who need your horns reshaped by Darkblood magic.

As always, this is just the beginning of the Reputation Shop. it will continue to be filled as the storyline unfolds before you.

AQW Power Weekend!

Welcome to new magical time we call the AQW Power Weekend!

Here's what you need to know.

The Power Weekend runs from now until Monday around Noon, server time.

Players can get DOUBLE XP on EVERY SERVER!

Members can get slight MORE than DOUBLE XP on the MEMBER ONLY SERVERS.

Members can also get DOUBLE REPUTATION on the MEMBER ONLY SERVERS.

It's as simple as that! This really is one weekend you don't want to miss out on.

MOD Birthday Shops!

This weekend it is Stratos and Vokun's Birthdays! Stratos is our Bug Hunter General as well as a holding a number of other positions in AE. Vokun is one of our newest volunteer developers on AQW's art team!

You can find Stratos's Birthday Shop in Battleon and Vokun;s in Shadowfall, but if you get lost just talk to Stratos in Battleon. His button should take you to Shadowfall!

We are getting reports that some of Vokun's birthday items are missing but we added everything that he sent us. He might have left a few items out of his show so we will add them as soon as we get them!

QUIBBLE COMING NEXT WEEK & More!

Don't forget that Quibble Coinbiter will be coming next week with a bunch of super sweet rares and items! he's always got some interesting stuff!

We added a big button to the Dragon's lair in battleon ebcause quite a few ne players had no idea that it was there. Just dropping some love on an old favorite.

The new Jade Samurai set has replaced the Golden Set that accomplanies the ONE YEAR UPGRADE. This set is ALSO Limited Time Only so grab it while it lasts!

Coming next week: Watch as a young King Alteon defeats Gravelclaw the Defiler, imprisoning him deep below the Forest of Chaos! Members will need to battle to the bottom of Shattersword Cavern to stop him from rising again!

This will be a pretty fun weekend and I have a few alts to level so maybe I'll see you guys on AQW!

Unlock the Jade Samurai with a 1 Year Membership!

Upgrade your account with a 1 Year Membership Package, to become a Jade Samurai, one of Yokai's elite military commanders! The set comes with an armor, helm, single and dual katanas, Gitou sword, and character page achievement! Unlock pets, member-only servers, exclusive zones/items/battles, and more!

Command the battlefield and control thousands of warriors as a Jade Samurai! Long honored across Lore for their battle prowess, the Jade Samurai is also one of the highest ranks in the Emperor of Yokai's elite personal guard!

Double EXP Weekend, Bring All Your Friends!

Login tonight on ANY server to get DOUBLE experience points from any battle or quest! This boost stacks with the AC XP Boost available in the Class Shop in Battleon, so if you needed help leveling up, this is the weekend to play!

And Members who play on Sir Ver and Evil Sir Ver will get a DOUBLE REP boost on top of the Double XP Boost, plus a little MORE XP than regular servers! Perfect timing for the new ThurnderForge Rep quests releasing tonight)! We can do these at any point in the future, so keep an eye on the homepage and Design Notes for random boost announcements!

Happy Birthday to MANY Team Members!

We've got a number of staff birthdays happening right around now!

Captain Stratos, BugMaster General and Asst. Lead Mod

Vokun, Asst. Artist for AQWorlds

Captain Rhubarb, Programming Pirate Captain

Draven, Web Design Destroyer

Stryche, HeroMart Ninja

True Mortal, Artist for DragonFable

Happy birthday to all of them! Cthaptain Stratos AND Vokun will each have an in-game birthday shop, too! Find Stratos' in Battleon, and talk to Vokun in Shadowfall!

Australia Day Shop Arrives Tomorrow!

Oi, we can't NOT celebrate Australia Day! Login tomorrow for awesome aussie Gear! Aranx is already hard at work crafting new versions of last year's extra-aussie items! Those will release TOMORROW in Battleon!

Login to Member Servers Now to Help Us Test!

We're testing NEW functionality on both member servers! You will get 5% more exp,gold,faction rep, and class rank from battles and quests! Upgrade now to take part in the testing!

When Do I Get the Boosts?

The test is live RIGHT NOW on our member-only Sir Ver and Evil Sir Ver servers! Log in and begin battling or questing to get 5% more exp, gold, faction rep, and class rank! This boost is added exponentially on top of any current boosts you have active, so today is a VERY good day to be a Member!

How Long Will This Last?

We will leave this test up for the rest of the day! At some point in the future (the very NEAR future!), if this works, we do MORE server-wide boosts! We can boost all four categories, just 1, or a combination of all of them!

Changes to Battleon are Underway!

In the spirit of Artix's Rapid-Fire Wednesday Design Note at Artix.com, we've got a fast blast of info for you! Log into Battleon tonight and you'll find something missing... but nothing has been lost! The construction moglins just finished relocating the DragonPlane Portal*to its final home right outside the Etherstorm Wastes!

Desoloth the Final is Waiting!

Play through the DragonPlane and the Etherstorm Wastes Saga by joining /firestorm, and see what Hs'Sakar the High Priest of Fire has in store for you! Help save the dragons of EtherStorm Wastes from Desoloth's Elemental Chaos!

* Which many of you might remember from the 11-11-11 event featuring Desoloth the Final!

Wait... What is Happening?!

We are working on a complete redesign of AQWorlds' starting town, Battleon, and the surrounding areas!

Rumors include a museum, weapon shop, library, TONS of new quests and more. We'll be releasing these changes with the help of the construction moglins in pieces over the next several months. Keep an eye out for what happens next!

Darkblood, Treasure Chests, MOD Birthdays and More!

This Friday the new Chaos Lord Lionfang saga continues in the Darkblood city of Falguard.

Captain Madra and one of her Falguard Dreadwatch Soldiers

This week you will enter the mysterious Darkblood city of FALGUARD, whose doors have remained closed to outsiders for years. The Darkblood Scroll has been translated and a newly empowered CHAOS LORD LIONFANG plans to test out his new powers searching for the Darkblood weapon that may be able to defeat Chaos.

The City will feature the Thunderforge Reputation Shop (on Madra herself), A Weapon Shop, An Armor Shop, a Hair Shop, at least one dark alley, a few quests to grind Thunderguard Reputation (more for Members) and, of course, the storyline quests.

Can you find the secret weapon of the Darkblood before Chaos Lord Lionfang rips Falguard apart?

Other Stuff Happening This Week

We have new treasure chest items coming for all of you who have unlocked been stocking the treasure chests up and Members who have been stockpiling your free Treasure Chest Keys from Twilly

We have TWO Mod birthday shops coming Friday as well. Captain Stratos, Co-head Moderator and Bug Master General and Vokun, one of our newest volunteer assistant developers!

The 1 Year Member Golden Set Member Package is going away, to be replaced by the Jade Samurai 1 Year Member Set which is exactly the same as the other package but with a different set.

Stuff Coming In The Future

We're working on some new Membership perks for you guys, in addition to the one that Alina talked about earlier. We are trying to workout a system where Members would simply get MORE ACs. If you buy the 2000 AC package and you're a Member then you would get more than 2000 ACs.

How many more? Still working on making it happen (It may never happen, but we're trying) so we'll saw for sure at that time.

Next week Quibble will be coming back to Battleon and will be bringing a host of all new, slightly used rares from the future (and past in this case). A few of you were asking if Xavier Lionfang's Silver Lion Armor would be released during the Lionfang Saga... well, it is.

Funny story: ORIGINALLY the Lionfang armor art was silver, but went back for a recolor and came out the gold version that we all know. Makes sense that Xavier would get his big brother's hand-me-downs.

The Search For New Mods Continues

Reens and Stratos are still looking for a few good players who help expand the Moderator team of AQW.

If you want to know how to apply, READ THIS CAREFULLY. I've had people e-mailing me and even trying to apply on Twitter which just proves that you either

Didn't bother to read the directions,

Skimmed them but didn't pay attention, or

Can't read English well enough to be a Mod.

No matter which way you go, if you can't even apply correctly then you lacking some very necessary qualifications that we need in our Mods.

People have been asking me who "won the Mod contest?". I can't stress enough that this is not a contest to be won, it's a volunteer job to be applied for. It's a pretty serious and necessary position and we have some fairly high standards for what we expect from our Mods.

It's hours and hours of helping, reading thousands of player reports and trying your best to help other players. It's a thankless job but that's OK because we don't pay you anything. We even put restrictions on the items that Mods get. The only rewards are a gold name, the chance to test the releases before they are finished and the chance to help make AQW a better and safer game for everyone.

Getting Free Stuff is Awesome!

Especially when you get MORE of it than you normally would! Cysero and I found out yesterday* that if you renew your membership anytime during the membership OR up to 1 week** after it expires, you get 100 BONUS AdventureCoins for every month you re-upgrade!

*Captain Rhubarb, who does a lot of the back end for our Payment system, knew about this and thought we all did, too. Now we're making sure YOU do, as well!** When we announced this earlier today, we thought the period was for 2 weeks. It has been updated to the correct length of time, 1 week.

That's been true for a long time now... but it sounds like we haven't let everyone know about it. It's never too late to share good news! Especially when we are releasing a new set with the 1 year upgrade package this week: the Jade Samurai set!

What this means is... if you buy a 1 year membership while your account is upgraded, you'll get 1200 extra AdventureCoins! OR if your membership just expired and you upgrade this week with a 3 month membership, you'll get 300 extra AdventureCoins!

Upgrade to Become One of Lore's Greatest Heroes!

AQWorlds members make it possible for our servers to run (and for the dev team to eat)! But besides those very vital things, every membership unlocks even MORE awesome bonuses and extras than the one above!

Battling alongside pet companions... and Battle Pets who will fight WITH you

Exclusive storylines, challenge battles, and zones

Member-only servers

New Idea for Membership Bonus!

We are working on ANOTHER Member Perk! Cysero had the brilliant idea of giving a 5% AC bonus to ANY of the 4 main AdventureCoin packages purchased for any upgraded character. So if you're buying 12K ACs for your upgraded account, you'll get 12,600 ACs instead! We don't have a set date for this, but we are working to see if it CAN happen!

STATUS: Not ACCEPTING NEW APPLICATIONS

Reens has received over 1800 applications to be an in-game moderator! Thank you to ALL of you who are so eager to help the AQWorlds community. We really do have the best users on the internet! But with so many applications to process, we need to end the submission period.* The last call for moderator applications ends tonight at midnight, server time.

But if you aren't old enough to apply just yet, read on!

Next Mod Application Period Begins in the Fall!

It's because we have SO many awesome players who want to help their fellow heroes that we're going to be looking for new mods multiple times a year. If you aren't 18 yet, but will be later on this year, all hope is not lost! We'll announce the start date of the next mod hunt once September gets closer.

1 Year Upgrade Package Bonus Items Leaving!

Blind your opponents with the gleam of your gear! Upgrade your account with a 1 Year Membership Package before the Golden Plate set leaves... forever! The package comes with the bonus Golden Plate armor, helm, cape, and weapon AND 7,000 Bonus Adventure Coins.

And later this week, the Golden Plate Set will be replaced by...

The Jade Samurai set!

Command the battlefield and control thousands of warriors as a Jade Samurai, one of the Yokai's most-skilled military commanders! Long honored across Lore for their battle prowess, the Jade Samurai is also one of the highest ranks in the Emperor of Yokai's elite personal guard!

And we thought you'd like a behind-the-scenes look at just how such an epic armor is created! In the picture below, you see how he's got reference pictures of a samurai armor, and then also an image of jade, to get a feel for the colors in the stone.

Because we received MANY requests to switch the items attached to the one year package more frequently, this set will not be available as long as the Golden Plate Set was.

Thank you for supporting us by purchasing Memberships and AdventureCoins! We can't wait to work with every Good, Evil, (and Chaotic?!) Hero in Lore to make 2013 the most explosively amazingyear in AQWorlds' history!

STATUS: Not ACCEPTING NEW APPLICATIONS

We have always said that we make these games for and WITH you... and that's why so many of our team members began as regular players*! Now we need some of you to join Reens and Stratos' in-game team of volunteer moderators to make AQWorlds a safer, funner**game for everyone!

Reens and Stratos want YOU to join the mod crew!

Reens will begin regular hunts for in-game moderators. In the past, we've always hunted when we needed more, but we realized that we were missing a LOT of potentially good team members. So she will put out a call for new mods every few months.

*Dage, J6, Ghost, Tomix, Solrac, and I (plus many more!) all joined the AE team after playing the games... and you can, too!** It's totally a word. Honest. It's linguistically correct.

So... What IS a Mod?

All Admins (Devs, Mods and Player Support) have gold names in AQW. We have certain rights, special Admin powers, and a boat-load of responsibilities to deal with on a daily basis to help keep the game going strong.

Moderators are a team of dedicated volunteers who help players with in-game issues, protect the game from cheaters and people try to make the game less fun for others (or break the Terms of Service agreement). They are the team who review your reports and hand out bans and mutes as necessary.

Player Support Team Members are a team of incredible individuals who help players with game-related issues such as retrieving lost or stolen accounts, helping with payment issues or technical problems.

Developers are the coders, artist/animators, writers and others who build all of the great AE games. We are the ones who write the adventures, program the game engine, write and peform the music, draw the items and animate the monsters and cutscenes. (Find a list of the AQW Devs here.)

Interested in Joining the Mod Team?

Then read this letter from Reens, the lead in-game moderator!

Hi guys! Stratos and I are looking for new mods for AQWorlds (and HeroSmash), and now is your chance to apply! One thing I have to stress - you MUST be over 18. If you are under 18, if you don't include your age, or if you start with "I'm not 18 yet, but..." the application will not be considered.

We are most in need of moderators who are bilingual (or more) in English and one of the following languages: Tagalog, Portuguese, Spanish.

6. A cover letter describing yourself, and what you think being a mod will mean.

Please send your COMPLETE application to beamod@battleon.com. If the application is not complete, we won't consider it. And please, one application per person. Stratos and I will read all the applications. If you are chosen to go through a further interview, we will contact you. Unfortunately, we cannot reply to everyone.Battle on!

* Note: please do not email applications to join Player Support. We are only looking for new in-game moderators, but we love how eager you are to help us and your fellow players!

Coming This Week in AQWorlds!

Journey to Falguard this Friday but be careful - that is DarkBlood territory! The Darkblood are a race of humanoid creatures but make no mistake, they are NOT humane! They identify as Evil but have not yet approached Empress Gravelyn.

In the last few hundred years, the Darkblood have built the city of Falguard in Thunderforge and withdrawn from interacting with all other races in Lore. We do not know what you will find there...

Lessons From The Past

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born on this day in 1929) spread a message of unity & equality, of peace & hope, for which he was murdered. Remember the man but carry the message with you. Use it, as he did, as your sword and shield against hatred.

Humanity will always suffer from ignorance. It is a war that we cannot win, but the ONLY way we will lose it is if we forget that ignorance and hatred can be neutralized with education, patience, forgiveness and the willingness to work side by side with those whom we consider our enemies toward a better, brighter and more whole future.

Dr. King and those rare individuals like him still have so much to teach us and everyone always has more to learn.

Be proud of who you are but always try to be a better person.

Stand up for what you believe in but be brave enough to admit when you're wrong.

Defeat General Porkon, Avenge the Villagers!

Defend the villagers of Greenguard Forest from the Horcs! General Porkon has ordered his Horc Warriors to invade Greenguard Forest!

We do not know why... but we know the villagers in the area need your protection! Head to /orctown and slay General Porkon to scatter his warriors!

Become a Warrior for Justice!

Defeat General Porkon before 12PM (noon server time) on Tuesday and you too could become a Warrior of Justice, charging onto the battlefield with your Arrows of Truth! The Horc Warriors in /greenguardeast and /greenguardwest also have a small chance to drop a helm, too!

Each of these items is 0ACs for free storage, and they will never return! Defend the innocent and claim your rewards! You don't need to accept any quests to get this gear, just get in there and slay those horcs!

Thank you for your patience!

Our quest to optimize AQWorlds' performance continues! The game servers WERE offline while we cleaned up the database, and we've seen some improvement behind-the-scenes. Now that we're done, take a look at the news we posted while the servers were down!

Back to work, server hamsters!

News About Battleon's Re-Design!

If you've been reading the Design Notes (and to get all the latest news, you should!), then you've heard about how we're re-designing the town of BattleOn! After Artix, J6, Cysero, Beleen, and I got done with the initial planning stages, work has finally begun! J6 is finishing the next Lionfang map, then starting on the new Battleon art. This week, I began plotting out the MANY quests the new town needs, and getting them in the database.

Danger: Falling Puns!

So far, we've got:

30 Pet Exploration shops ready for Aria's Pet Shop!

4 pet shops that unlock as you explore through AQWorlds!

10 Monster Pet Challenge quests!

3 Daily Quests

Next up: Just as many quests for the Museum! Anyone in the mood for a treasure hunt?! Because there are a LOT of relics in Lore Valencia will need you to find!

We want to do this Battleon redesign RIGHT, and that means MANY new quests, new town and NPC art, a way to walk to your house, a place to learn about guilds, a re-designed Guardian Tower, a Battle Coliseum, Library, new Magic Shop, Forge, and more! What else do YOU want to see?

We do not have a set release date for the new Battleon re-design, but the construction moglins (and the AQW team) are hard at work on the project!

The Imvasion of Onslaught Tower!

We need your help more than ever before! Archlord Maximilian Lionfang has recovered the Darkblood Scroll which reveals the existence of an ancient weapon which might have the power to defeat Chaos itself, and with this information in his hands... he has revealed his true colors! He has kidnapped Artix, Robina, Alina, Yorumi, Beleen, Warlic, King Alteon and several more of our friends... even me. Our very lives depend on YOU!

This former general of King Alteon's Army has broken the Great Truce and taken up the title of Archlord of his zealot faction, the Golden Onslaught. In recent days the heroes of battleon and even King Alteon have gone missing, replaced by illusions cast by Gravelyn's Imperial Illusionists to prevent wiespread panic! Tonight you will relive the exciting story of AQW's first Birthday event as you battle at Empress Gravelyn's side to save your friends from Onslaught Tower.

This expanded version of the Invasion of Onslaught Tower features an elnarged map so you can see more of the tower than you ever did before. It introduces a new NPC in the form of Archlich Xollen, Commander of the Shadowscythe Invasion Force, as well as a new expanded storyline full of new quests and a crazy amount of new items (all the rare items from the original event stay rare)!

Lionfang Invasion AC Shop: 13 Items including the DoomKnight Prime and a number of other great new AC items, plus the classic DoomKnight items presented by Gravelyn in the original event.

Lionfang Invasion Shop: 13 Member and non-member items for gold. Unlock this shop by completing this week's release

Monster Drops: 8 Member and non-member drops! Every single monster drops something new this week!

Member Only Side-Quests: Members can quest to get the hard-to-get Color Custom Lionfang Royalty set when they unlock the bonus quests at the end of the release!

The blue parts are color custom

This week's release sets you up for next week, as we head to the Darkblood city of Falguard, deep inside the boarders of Thunderforge!

New Barber and Armor Color Pets!

Check out the Battleon Helper Shop for 2 brand new pets that do cool stuff!

Sergeant Snipps: This little Moglin will be happy to follow Members around giving them haircuts, dye jobs and even colored contacts at will!

Daro: This violet Moglin is a master blacksmith's helper and can recolor your armor on the fly. He's a NON-MEMBER pet that you can purchase for 1000 ACs.

Season Of The Witch Shop

The Season Of The Witch Shop has been update with 4 brand new items including a new Battle Pet for Members!

These are GUARENTEED Rare items, but there are lots of Grimm Stalkers out there so you might see other versions of the armor in the future. This version will never return once it is gone.

Verification Weapons

Finally, we have completed our long-awaited upgrades to the verification shops promised last month during Frostval to all of our DragonLords, Star Captains and Guardians.

Thank you all for upgrading in the other games and thank you for your continued support in AQW! :)

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY RARES

Just a reminder that you can still get your February Rares Raffle Ticket from Cleric Joy's shop for your chance to win the SUATMR contest and walk away with something that smells like the inside of my backpack.

Remember that you can increase your chances of winning with Memberships and AExtras but you NEED ACCESS TO YOUR REGISTERED AQW E-MAIL TO WIN. No E-mail, No rares for you.

After You Battle Through Lion's Keep...

Check out the newest gear in Battleon's Helper Pet Shop!* Our two new helper pets want you to look your best before and after every battle! Upgrade to take Sergeant Snipps (of the Barber Brigade) along with you, or pay Daro 1,000 AdventureCoins to travel with you!

Sergeant Snipps allows members to customize their hair, eye, and skin color while Daro will alter any color-customizable armor his owner has equipped!

You can still /join Yulgar to use the color customization room there, but Snipps and Daro will travel with you wherever you go, making sure you look picture-perfect in every screenshot you take!

* These pets will not go rare. Soon they'll make the move to Aria's Pet Shop in Battleon Town.

New Gear in the WitchHunter Shop!

Hunt the creatues of the night in the GrimStalker armor! We're adding NEW gear to the Season of the WitchHunter shop in Battleon: the Battle Chimera Familiar and the regular Chimera Familiar.

And when it comes time to battle the witches, lichs, and undead of Lore, do not leave home without your instruments of purification!

Verification Shop Weapons Arrive Tonight!

Upgrade in the original AdventureQuest, DragonFable, or MechQuest to unlock access to the Verification Shops! In addition to the new versions of the classic armors the shops received last week, you will also be able to access the new weapons we are adding later tonight!

Guardian Prime Blade, DragonLord Prime Blade, StarLord Laser Prime

Don't Miss Tonight's Story Release!

Relive a special, expanded version of the assault on Lionfang's Keep! If you missed the original event, you're free to play through it on your own, but we suggest bringing a party of your strongest friends to storm the Keep! Battle through an expanded map, new quests, gain access to NEW rewards, and see updated versions of the cutscenes!

The Season of the WitchHunter is Here!

Become a GrimStalker and slay the creatures of the night! Stalk the shadows along the trail to Battleon, slashing and slaying your way to victory over darkness! The Season of the WitchHunter shop is in Battleon with the GrimStalker Armor, cape, helms, and weapons now!

FRIDAY we will add the member-only Chimera pets: regular pet for gold and the Battle Pet Chimera for AdventureCoins... PLUS the Hammer of Justice weapon!

How Long Will the Shop Be Open?

Even better question! This shop will be around for at least 1 week, but not much longer. It WILL return eventually, though, because witches, liches, and other creatures of the night never seem to STAY dead! The Season of the WitchHunter never really closes, so although the GrimStalker items in THIS SotW shop will go rare, the next time it opens, we will have an all-new set of night-terror slaying gear!

For Your Eyes Only

Hero, As you well know, several heroes from around Lore have been reported as missing. I've had my dark illusionists disguise themselves and take the places of Artix, Cysero, Alina, Zhoom, Ai No Miko, Warlic and a number of other heroes to avoid any panic. Most recently King Alteon has gone missing. Something must be done.

I don't expect the replacements to fool people for very long. Posters like this one have begun to pop up all over the land.

I have recently discovered who is responsible for the abductions. I command you, in the name of the Great Truce, to meet me at my fortress this Friday. I have devised a plan to rescue our friends and I will need able bodied soldiers to put this plan into action.

Echos Of The Past

Do you recognize the message above? Then you were probably playing back in October of 2009 when we first ran this adventure for AQW's first birthday. This week we continue Lionfang's Legacy with the re-release of the Assault on Onslaught Tower. There will be no war this time, but there will be a larger, expanded tower map, new quests, Member Only side quests, new music and of course new items!

Blackhorn Tomb

Have you ventured into Blackhorn Tomb to face the Bonefeeder yet?

The first part of the Lionfang's Legacy storyline was released last week with a number of new quests, 2 new cutscenes, an AC shop, an unlockable item shop several new monster drops!

If you want to understand more about Maxamilian Lionfang, then Blackhorn is the place to start!

Some History

Some people were confused about how last week's story design notes fit into the history of the game. I will explain all of this in this week's release but I might as well clear it up now.

After Drakath revealed himself to the world and destroyed my father, King Alteon and I sent agents out into the world to look into the threat that Chaos posed and any possible solutions or weaknesses.

General Lionfang found something interesting in Darkblood rumors and made his way to Thunderforge where the Darkblood live in the city of Falguard. His first act in the area was to "cleanse" an ancient tower of the necromancer who was living there. Much of the crumbling structure was destroyed in the battle between the undead and Lionfang's loyal soldiers. Finding the location a valuable strategic asset, he converted the remains of the necromancer's tower into Lion's Keep, building it far stronger than it was before.

Lionfang's report to his King stated that the Necromancer had gone rogue and was killing loyal soldiers of Good only to reanimate them as servants of Evil, thus breaking the Great Truce. Reports of Lionfang's actions against my Evil followers had grown in number so I commanded my scryers to show me the past.

The truth of the matter is that General Lionfang simply attacked the necromancer who was using Shadowfall sanctioned body parts to perform his experiments. This means that it was LIONFANG who actually broke the Great Truce, boldly striking first against the side of Evil.

If only we had known General Lionfang's true feelings earlier, we might have been able to stop him from building his powerful base of soldiers and zealot followers which he now calls his Golden Onslaught. He has even changed the name of the tower from Lion's Keep to Onslaught Tower, flaunting his military might.

The man made a dangerous enemy when he decided to break the Great Truce and attack my follower. LONG UNLIVE THE SHADOWSCYTHE!

Season Of The Witch Hunter

This Wednesday, the Season of the Witch Hunter begins and the rare GrimmStalker armor will be sold for a short time.

It's being sold in celebration of the release of the new Hansel and Gretel movie for all of you classic dark fairy tale fans out there.

The 2013 Release Momentum Keeps Growing!

Strap on your hardest helm and equip your sharpest blade this Friday, because you're definitely going to want to see the next chapter in Lionfang's Chaos storyline - the updated and polished version of the Golden Onslaught War! You HAVE battled through the Blackhorn Tombs, right?

Last Friday's release took place in Lionfang's past (but you did not travel back in time. Try not to think too hard about the mechanics of that. Timey-wimey explanation!) Cysero's going to try to find time ("Heeeeeey time-travel fairies!") to build a timeline to make things easier to understand!

The team is ALSO going to be working on re-designing the town of Battleon (and Battleontown)! Current plans for the restructure include re-doing the Guardian Tower, updated town NPCs, FINALLY questing to unlock the pieces of the Blade of Awe and SO MUCH MORE!*

This project is HUGE and will take at least 2-3 Phases to complete, but work on Phase 1 begins this week!**

* Watch out for falling puns!** Construction moglins are magic, and move so fast that the town's appearance is likely to change in the blink of an eye (or a server restart) once it is ready to release.****** Release date not set yet.

And See How Your Ideas Make AQWorlds Happen!

AE is a company built on direct player feedback; we always want to know what you think of our plans and how we can make them even MORE awesome! We want to see your drawings, hear your ideas, and find out what YOU want to see come to AQWorlds next!

Sometimes though, things get so hectic that the ideas we throw out on Twitter, the forum, or Facebook never make it to all of you. So remember: For OFFICIAL announcements of what's coming in AQWorlds, read the Design Notes and the homepage!

This is the button to click to get all your AQW news!

You've already found them, so you're one step ahead! Anything not said here is not officially planned. It's an idea, a thought, a "would this be cool?"

And even after we've announced the release schedule, plans may change. Nothing is final until the servers restart. Because as much as we may WANT to do something, sometimes we find out that it's just not possible that week. So keep an eye on the Design Notes for progress updates as we find them out!

I Hope You Love Spiders!

Today we begin the new Maximillian Lionfang's Chaos Story. Many of you have long wondered if Lionfang, who began his life as a one-off bad guy for our first birthday event, would ever actually become a Lord of Chaos.

Spoiler: He does.

We're trying something kind of interesting and new with this release. Based heavily on Lionfang's established lore, we're back tracking a bit and showing you how you first met Maximilian Lionfang when he was a General for King Alteon.

You will follow his lead to the ancient Blackhorn Tomb (some of you might recognize the name from last week's adventure) where General Lionfang has tracked an ancient scroll that might reveal a way to defeat Chaos itself!

In this release you will find an AC shop at the beginning of the release with a host of amazing items, lots of drops on the monsters and if you complete the release you will unlock another shop full of Member and Non-Member gold items and armors!

NEXT WEEK: Come back to relive a special expanded version of the assault on Lionfang's Keep, or play through it for the very first time!

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY RARES!

Our newest and dumbest contest yet is live! Read ALL about it on the SUATMR Contest Page(pronounced soo-AHT-meer)!

WHAT IS IT?: It's a contest where you can win one of my or another dev or mod's rare items!

HOW DO I ENTER?: Talk to Cleric Joy in Battleon, click her SHOP button and buy a February Rares Raffle Ticket! You must have this item in your backpack or bank on the day of the drawing to enter the raffle.

WHEN IS THE DRAWING?: The drawing will be the first Tuesday of every month, so the first drawing will be held on Tuesday, Feb 5th!

HOW DO I HELP MY CHANCES OF WINNING?: The Rares Raffle Ticket enters you in the contest and gives you 1 chance to win. Every DAY of AQW Membership left on your account on the day of the drawing increases your chances by 1 (200 days left = 200 more chances). Also, every AExtra that you've completed from jan 1 to the day of the drawing increases your chances by 1 more (12 AExtras done = 12 more chances to win).

I DON'T GET IT!: Really? OK, then you should really, really go read the SUATMR Contest Page. Seriously, read every word.

RANGER CLASS, 2000 ACs

We've been getting a FLOOD of requests in recent months to sell the Ranger Class for ACs like all other recent classes. When I say a flood, I mean a FLOOD. Of all the the coming features that we've talked about or hinted at, all the bugs past and present this one change has beaten them ALL in terms of the numbers of people asking for this.

I've never been a fan of the idea since I thought that it was quite the badge of honor to have earned the class. More reasonable heads than mine pointed out that it's STILL a badge of honor if you earn it, even if a version is sold for ACs.

As of tonight, you will be able to buy the Ranger Class from Ragnar's Class Shop for 2000 ACs, BUT the earned version of the class, identical in every other way, will be renamed to the MASTER Ranger Class so you can more easily prove to your friends and other players that you EARNED this class.

This is the only Class for which we plan to make this concession, so enjoy it all you hard core Sandsea farmers (past, present and future)! Wear your Ranger class with pride!

Seasonal Rare Shop On Twilly

A few changes to Twilly's Pop-up in Battleon. He is now hosting a Seasonal Rare Shop. This little shop is just an fun little option for people with ACs to burn who like the items he has. Every season (Spring being the next) Twilly will get NEW seasonally-themed items that will also go rare.

All you have to do is purchase Twilly's 2013 Ice Token and that will enable you to open the shop and grab ALL of the Seasonal items which are all 0 ACs. Items will go perma-rare in March when the Spring shop opens!

The New New Mage

The new Mage base Class Art is live and with it the new Mage Armor in the mage trainer's shop.

Due to a large influx of player requests, the previous version of the mage armor will remain availible but as been renamed "Noble Mage". Dage really went all out redesigning the base classes and we are now VERY proud that new players, just coming to AQ.COM for the first time will be greeted by these amazing classes.

New Offer Pop-Ups!

Recently, we have added a couple of special offer pop-ups in-game for a very small amount of people who met the exact qualifications for the offer and a lot of people were asking "Why not me?!"

In response to this we have added a small array of NEW special offers targeted directly at YOU. If you DO qualify for these special offers, keep in mind that these are limited time offers and you might never see them again.

If you guys like these and continue to ask for them when we might expand the offers even further. If not then these will just... go away.

New Verification Armors

Members of our OTHER games were promised updated armors for their DragonLord, StarLord & Guardian shops in the Guardian Tower as a Frostval Gift. Sadly, a million things fell down on our heads all at once and these got backlogged BUT THEY ARE FINALLY HERE!

You can find the new armors in the same verification shops where you can find your special classes, and the weapons for the new armors will arrive NEXT week! Enjoy and Happy (Belated) Frostval!

Last Chance for 2012 Holiday Gear!

Alina says remember: Make sure to log in before Monday, January 14th, because that will be your LAST chance to access:

our Kezeroth the World Ender Frostval event until December

the Save the Sun New Year's event until January

Quibble Coinbiter's Shop

the 2013 Sun/Moon Rares Shop*

the Last-ever Limited Quantity Shop**

* This shop will go PERMA-RARE! Welcome in 2013 with some of the shiniest gear of the season!** This is the LAST Limited Quantity Shop we will do. Once this gear is gone, it will NEVER return!

Weekend Project

This weekend Artix, Dage, a few of the other team members and I are getting together to sharpen out Mobile Development skills. I can't even say that we're making a game, per se. I will say that we are making something very small and barely functional for multiple mobile devices.

Whatever we spit out at the end of this weekend might just be a total disaster but we DO plan on releasing it for free on as many mobile platforms as we can figure out,

Last Chance for 2012 Holiday Gear!

AQWorlds has had an AMAZING holiday season these past few months! But like all good things, their time to go is almost here. Make sure to log in before Monday, January 14th, because that will be your LAST chance to access:

our Kezeroth the World Ender Frostval event until December

the Save the Sun New Year's event until January

Quibble Coinbiter's Shop

the 2013 Sun/Moon Rares Shop*

the Last-ever Limited Quantity Shop**

* This shop will go PERMA-RARE! Welcome in 2013 with some of the shiniest gear of the season!** This is the LAST Limited Quantity Shop we will do. Once this gear is gone, it will NEVER return!

Hard at Work on the Verification Shop Armors!

We're pushing to get the verification shop armors out! Dage has finished the Guardian Prime and DragonLord Prime re-designs, and is powering up to finish Starlord Prime tomorrow. We HOPE to release them tomorrow, but will give a final answer as we draw closer to launch.

Twilly's Seasonal Shop Arrives Tomorrow!

Starting tomorrow, you'll be able to talk to Twilly to access a Seasonal Shop! Purchase the IceBreaker Shop Token for 1,000 AdventureCoins to open the Winter Seasonal Shop.

Then choose any (or all) of the following items:

IceBreaker Warrior Armor

Dual IceBreaker Axes

FrostWarder Cloak

Winter's Wrath Scythe

All items cost 0 AdventureCoins, so take advantage of the free storage! The shop will be available until March, when the items will change for the Spring Seasonal Shop!

Reminder: Ranger Class Arrives in Battleon!

Rangers are stealthy and hard to track down! But tomorrow, the Ranger Class will be placed in the Class Shop in Battleon for 2,000 ACs. In the past, the Class was earned by ranking up your SandSea Reputation, one of the hardest (and therefore most satisfying to complete) factions in the game.

The AC version of the Class is a short-cut intended for our players who want to enjoy the Class but don't have enough time to earn it through many, MANY victories in battle!

To differentiate between the two versions, we're re-naming the original Ranger Class. Starting tomorrow, those of you who have it already will find the Master Ranger Class in your inventories. The AC version will remain the same as it currently is.

Tomorrow: Find Darkhorn Tomb... and Lionfang!

Chaos always has a beginning; but will YOU be its end? Travel back in time to discover how Maximillian Lionfang started down the path to become the eleventh Lord of Chaos.

After learning that his General might have found a flaw in Drakath's Chaotic power, King Alteon sends you to aid Lionfang in his quest. Fight alongside this great and powerful Warrior before he takes up his banner against Evil.

The Most Delicious Contest of the Year!

Congratulations to EVERYONE who participated in our Frostval Cookie Contest! These tasty treats really take the cake! (And the cookies, and the frosting!) We can't wait until the next Cookie Contest in December, because we're ready to feast our eyes on more! Look for your awards to be added to your accounts tomorrow... and Bake On!

Grand Prize Winner: Rena Hikari!

This frosty frosting recreation of the Quetzal battle won our hearts... and would have filled our stomachs!

The Sweetest Entry: SweetCupcake2009!

This is a cookie face only SantaClaus could eat... because WE think it's way too cute!

Green with Envy Entry: Susami Moonwolf!

This is the only Holi-Daimyo cake we'd ever eat! It looks dog-gone delicious!

Let's Do Lunch Entry: StellaLuna22!

The holidays are all about feasting, not eating healthy... but with this peanutbutter snack moglin, you can do both!

An AQWorlds Contest on Artix.com

The first Tuesday of every month, we will be running a raffle and drawing the name of an AQW Player who will win the chance to hang out with an AQW Dev or Mod in-game for an hour or two! The winner will also get to pick a single rare item that can no longer be found in game from the list below. We will reach into our own backpacks and transfer the item from us directly to you!

Devs/Mods that you could hang out with (based on availability):

Artix

Galanoth

Cysero

Alina

Dage The Evil

Samba

Beleen

Yorumi

Dumoose

Stratos

Memet

Diozz

Jemini

Zhimaira

Mido

List of rares available:

Armors/Helms

Classes

6 x Alpha Pirate

4 x Chronomancer

3 x Beta Berzerker

2 x Darkside Class

1 x Bloodriver

3 x Vindicator Of They Class

1 x Blood of Nulgath

2 x Vampire Class

2 x Bloodletter of Nulgath

2 x Witch class

1 x Hex of Nulgath

2 x Fiend of Nulgath

Weapons

1 x Deathfiend of Nulgath

3 x Oblivion blade of of Nulgath

2 x Chuckles Skull

1 x Platinum axe of destiny

1 x Cloverfield Stalker

2 x Star Sword

1 x Celestial Sandknight

1 x Red Star Sword

2 x Eternal Flame

1 x StarSword Breaker

4 x Dark Caster

1 x Star Slasher

1 x Dark Wolf

1 x Voltaire's Guitar

1 x Deady

2 x Doom Fire

Pets

3 x Guardian Shadow

1 x Frostval Quibble Bank Pet

1 x Legion Jolly Roger

1 x Jacon Balloon Dragon

1 x Lycan Transformation

1 x Sock Dragon

1 x Mirror Drakath

1 x Paragon Pet

2 x Naval Commander

2 x Prometheus

2 x Rotting Naval Commander

1 x Rotting Pirate Captain

1 x Vampwing

1 x Vampire Transformation

1 x Voltaire's Top hat

1 x Soul Harvester

2 x Soul Ripper

Does this mean we can trade in AQW?!

While trade will never be a part of AQW we can go into our characters and manually transfer individual items from one of us to you. If the rare you want isn't on the list we will try and work with you and see if any devs or mods have the item you want. Remember that the devs and mods have volunteered to donate their own rares to the winners from their own inventories so most of these will be “gently used”. Some classes might already be maxed out.

Take your personal mod-servant around the game and show him/her off to all of your friends, ask them questions about the game, interview them for your blog, trade knock-knock jokes and muffin recipes, ask about secrets of the game, record and post YouTube videos of them losing to you in PvP and generally have a good time.

HOW DO I ENTER?

You must have a Rares Raffle Ticket in your character’s inventory or bank at the time the winner is being selected (the first of every month). You can get a Rares Raffle Ticket from Cleric Joy (the girl in the white robe when you first log in) in-game for 0AC. It is a non-member item with free bank storage. The Rares Raffle Ticket gives you 1 chance to win.

HOW CAN I INCREASE MY ODDS OF WINNING?

We wanted to allow all active players to enter the S.U.A.T.M.R. (SHUT UP AND TAKE MY RARES) contest. We also want to reward the players who are supporting the game by giving them additional chances to win.

Have a Rares Raffle Ticket: 1 Chance to win (required to participate)

Be a MEMBER: +1 Chance to win for every DAY left on your Memberships on the date of the drawing.

Complete an AExtra offer: +1 Chance to win for every offer you complete during the current contest before the drawing.

Example: If you get a Rares Raffle Ticket (1 chance to win) and have four months (one hundred and twenty days) left on your membership (+120 chances to win) and completed twelve AExtra offers (+12 chances to win) you will be automatically entered into the contest 133 times (1+120+12), increasing your chance of winning the current contest by quite a bit.

When you win, we will contact you by e-mailing you. Make sure that your e-mail is current and up to date. Each winner will have 3 days to respond, then we will draw a new winner.

Ranger Class Coming to Battleon's Class Shop!

We've received thousands of requests to provide a faster way to earn Ranger Class since it was released in early 2011... and now we're finally offering it for 2,000 AdventureCoins! For those of you who wish to earn your Class through battle, sweat, and (overcoming) fears, you'll still be able to unlock it by ranking up your SandSea reputation!

What IS a Ranger, and how do they battle?

They are stealthy, wealthy, and wise to the ways of their opponents. Able to take down tyrants without blinking an eye or breaking a bowstring, you'll range far and wide with this Class, gaining gold and glory! Rangers heavily rely on Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity, and the keenest of archers arm themselves with Thief, Fighter, and Lucky Enhancements.

Zhoom, the Ranger, watches as his students train!

Before, only those who survived the unforgiving Sandsea and held a Rank 10 Sandsea Reputation could call themselves a Ranger. Now, you will be able to purchase the Class, but you will still need to rank it up to unlock the skills!

Ranger Class Skills

Auto AttackRank Needed: 1Mana Cost: 0 ManaCooldown: 2 SecondsType: PhysicalDescription: Rangers have been taught with an ancient art of attacking at any range, even with a melee weapon.

Mark for DeathRank Needed: 1Mana Cost: 5 ManaCooldown: 1.5 SecondsType: PhysicalDescription: Deals light damage and applies Death Mark to your foe. Death Mark can stack up to 5 times unless consumed by a skill or allowed to fade, and reduces foe’s damage up to 5% until consumedNotes: Ranged, effect lasts 10 seconds.

Scorching ArrowRank Needed: 2Mana Cost: 15 ManaCooldown: 10 SecondsType: PhysicalDescription:Launches a flaming arrow at your enemy, dealing moderate damage, also burning them with a fire Damage over Time (DoT). Fire damage over time can be increased by Death Mark.Note: DoT lasts 10 seconds

Explosive BoltRank Needed: 3Mana Cost: 25 ManaCooldown: 3 SecondsType: PhysicalDescription:This arrow has an explosive tip which explodes on impact, dealing high damage. Nearby foes can also be caught in the explosion for minor damage. Damage increased by Death Mark.Note: Hits up to 4 targets.

Vampiric ShotRank Needed: 5Mana Cost: 40 ManaCooldown: 30 SecondsType: PhysicalDescription: You fire a magic arrow inscribed with runes at your target, dealing moderate damage to them but also applying a HoT effect to yourself. Both Damage and Heal Over Time effects are increased by Death Mark.Note: HoT lasts 10 seconds.

Passive Abilities

For more detailed information on ALL the Classes available in AQWorlds, head to the Lorepedia, the online AQW encyclopedia, where Beleen has gathered all of the vital information you need to know to battle your best!

AQWorlds Offline at Midnight for Maintenance

Our quest to optimize AQWorlds' performance continues! The game will be offline tonight, beginning at midnight, for around 3 hours while we clean up the database. We'll return as soon as all the junk 0's and 1's clogging it up have been swept clear and tossed into a binary trash-bin!

The server hamsters get a 1.5 hour break tonight!

A NEW version of the New Mage Base Class!

Friday's Design Notes tell the tale of the new Base Class art... and why it hasn't been released. While Yorumi works to find room inside AQWorlds to add the new Classes in, Dage re-designed the Mage armor in response to your feedback! The previous version of the Mage Class art will be available to buy in the near future.

Our art skills have really leveled up!

Now that the base class redesigns are finished, Dage is returning to work on the verification armors and weapons. We'll announce their release date once we have a better idea of when they will be done!

Work Begins on a New Battleon!

Tomorrow, Artix, J6, and I will meet to finalize the layout of the new Battleon! We are all really excited about our plans for how to expand the town! A library filled with lore about the world*, a brand-new pet shop where Aria sends members on quests to unlock pets**, Valencia's museum ***, and so much more!

J6 will turn this sketch into incredible art!

* Would you like to write and submit stories about your AQW hero? ** This was one of my favorite parts of early DragonFable!*** What treasure hunter can resist questing around Lore for relics?!

2013 is Off to an Awesome - and Chaotic - Start!

Join us this Friday as we explore one of AQWorlds most loved - and hated - villains! We've got so much we want to do this year, but before we do any of that, we want to jump right into the next Chaos storyline!

Evil and Good must stand together in the fight against Chaos... but General Maximillian Lionfang is willing to risk everything to prevent that Alliance! King Alteon needs YOU to aid Lionfang in his quest to find a weakness in Drakath's power or he will be free to play his deadly, Chaotic game and Lore will be the prize!

See Your Guild on the Homepage!

Joining a Guild, building a town to defend, and going on epic quests with your Guild members to rank it up are going to be some of the most awesome parts of the Guilds feature. Yorumi has already started work on how the Towns/Halls will function.

As he continues working towards that goal, we want to shine a spotlight on the epic Guilds which already exist in AQWorlds! And that's why each Tuesday we'll feature one new Guild on our homepage!

In order to have your Guild displayed on the homepage, we'll need your Guild Leader to create a thread on the forum. Once that's done, they should post a screenshot in this thread.

The pictures for the homepage will be chosen from this thread, so make sure you submit your most awesome screenshot (with as many Guild members as you can get together)!

You can either take a screenshot of:

your Guild battling together

your Guild posed in your favorite map shouting encouragement

or whatever else you think shows your Guild off best!

The pictures should be at least 350px wide (bigger is better!) and either in .jpg or .png format. And the more Guild members in your screenshot, the more engaging it is!

Once your Guild has been chosen, we'll send a message to everyone in AQWorlds at the time of selection to let them know which Guild is being featured that week! We will also leave a message in your Guild Message of the Day!

This Friday, Learn More About The Next Chaos Lord.

We introduced Maximilian Lionfang during AQW's very first birthday celebration event. Some of you know him as the leader of the dogmatic Golden Onslaught whose only goal is destroy any and all things EVIL, no matter what the cost.

This Friday, we are turning back the clock and re-introducing AQW to General Lionfang, before he took up his banner against evil. This quest takes place before the events of the first birthday event and NEXT week we get the pleasure of re-introducing the event with expanded content for those who missed out. It's kind of cool that we get to go back, touch up old stuff and bring it back to the game as a core element of a much larger storyline.

First, a little history about the Lionfang family.

Maximilian Lionfang and his younger brother Xavier were raised by their father, Darius who served for many years as a knight under King Slugwrath before joining General Alteon's rebellion and becoming a key player in the overthrow of the tyrannical king. Darius raised his boys to believe that you should stand up to evil wherever you meet it, but his guilt over his actions while serving under Slugwrath drove these teachings to extremes.

In the early years of King Alteon's reign Maximilian and Xavier both signed up as recruits under the good king but Maximilian rose quickly through the ranks by making a name for himself as someone who could get things done. Darius Lionfang was slain in a battle with the archlich Noxus in one of the first clashes between King Alteon's forces and those of the DoomKnight Sepulchure.

Xavier left the military to seek revenge for their father's death but Maximilian remained a loyal soldier thinking that the far-reaching hand of his majesty's army would prove a better tool in the battle against evil. His charisma and steadfast adherence to the cause of good earned Maximilian a General's banner and a fearsome loyalty from those who served under him but some of his soldiers whispered that he could take things too far. However, most knew how his father had died and thus turned a blind eye to his all-consuming hatred of Evil.

Now Maximilian is one of Good King Alteon's most trusted generals. When Drakath attacked and Sepulchure was destroyed, Lore saw that a new, powerful threat had arisen that could not be defeated by the forces of good or evil alone and the Great Truce between Good and Evil was formed. General Lionfang was charged with finding out all that he could about the nature of Chaos on Lore. For years he and his troops have scoured the land searching for clues and finally building Lion's Keep on the edge of Thunderforge, a dark and mysterious land north of Skullholm populated by numerous creatures who serve Empress Gravelyn.

His recent letters to his majesty hint that he might have found something in his search to battle Chaos in an ancient tomb called Blackhorn...

A New Contest Is Coming!

So I was talking with Artix and Alina and we came up with an idea. We were thinking that I might take a lot of my old rares and offer them up as prizes for some sort of drawing. My Alpha Pirate has just been gathering dust since I got it up to rank 10.

The contest that we're thinking of will be kind of similar to the old I Can Has Mod contest in that you will get to hang out with a mod or dev for a few hours and you'd also get to pick from a list of old rares that I and the other mods and devs have donated as prizes. That's where the similarities end.

There will be no wishing of any kind, other than the normal, fruitless kind that always happens.

You'll have to buy a ticket or a potion and have it in your inventory at the time of the drawing,Membership will get you 50 extra chances and each completed AExtra will get you 1 more chance to win. We'll do the drawing once a month and random winner will get the option of being named or remaining secret of they want.

We'll tell you more (like when the contest starts and what you need to have in your inventory to be in the contest) as soon as we figure out more details ourselves.

We are considering calling the contest SHUT UP AND TAKE MY RARES!

We have already discussed this idea on Twitter a little bit and I'm really impressed with so many old school players stepping forward and volunteering their own ancient rares for no reason other than they want to make someone else's day.

It's great to know that we have so many amazing players like you guys, but let's see how it goes with the devs and mods first :)

Amberheart Tower has Fallen to Chaos!

Light the beacon atop Amberheart Tower to summon every Hero on Lore! Drakath is on the move, and so is Chaos! As monsters pour out of a Chaos rift near Mobius, Warlic receives a letter from Vormund Vigil-Keeper, commander of the Tower saying they are under attack... and now they're all missing!

Battle Chaorrupted enemies as you climb the Tower searching for clues to where they've gone, and uncover a VITAL secret about Chaorruption along the way! Discover where they’ve gone, ignite the beacon’s flame, and summon help to warn the rest of Lore!

January 4th, 2013: The Day the Lag Died!

After Yorumi made some core changes to how maps and friends lists* work, EVERYONE is /cheering him on! We are all loading at lightning-fast speeds. Login now and tell us how well the servers are working for you! (Yorumi's new title is... the LagSlayer!)

* If you have bugs with your friends list, please log out, clear your cache, and log back in.

Verification Shop Armors Come Next Week!

The Verification shop armors have been delayed another week. We apologlize; the last two weeks have been much shorter (3 days to create releases instead of 5), but the verification shop armors are the first thing on Dage's to do list for next week. We will release them as soon as possible!

Base Class Redesigns Still in Progress!

We tried VERY hard to release the new art for the base classes this week. We were on schedule until this morning, when we realized the engine would need some pretty big re-writes. When Yorumi went to add them, we realized... the game is out of space!** While he works to create the room we need to add the new base classes, we added the new art as armors in the Trainer shops for you to enjoy!

** We have added a LOT to AQWorlds this last year!

More News and What Comes Next!

Visit Aria's Pet Shop in /battleontown to see Va Va Boom, the January pet of the month!

The next Chaos Zone begins next week... in Blackhorn Tomb! Who - or what - will you find there?

While Cysero takes you on the next Chaos adventure, J6, Beleen, and I will push on re-designing Battleon!

This Is Why I Never Make Plans

You may not know this but we work a lot.

You know that we update the game every week at least once with new content, quests, cutscenes, items and more. What you may not know is that we do a lot more than that, taking every chance we can to work ahead on future releases, fix existing bugs and improve the game every chance we get.

Among other things, one of our current projects is updating the base class art to better match the quality and style that the game currently boasts. It's a pretty simple art update with no changes to the existing base class functionality. It was a pretty simple plans, but like all plans... it fell apart. That's why we roll with the punches.

Here's the story:

The new base class art was meant to go out a few weeks ago but with the holiday giving us less time than usual, the art simply got shelved for other projects. Today the art was completed.

We were going to simply replace the art in the existing classes and update the files, but we couldn't do that because people would complain that they missed the old art (can't please everyone) and we knew that the collectors would like to save their old classes to show that they were here before the revamp.

Easy. We just make the old classes rare and give the new classes to all newly created characters, replace the old classes in the shops and tag them as Rare.

But wait, if the classes are all new items, then that class checks on things like paladin and the upgraded variants won't work. We can't just use the new class IDs because then the OLD classes would no longer work. Time to update the engine and make it check for any variation of old/new base classes.

Artix comes in and says that we are NOT making the old classes rare so people can still get them if they want. He's just trying to make people happy. We tweet the update.

Artix comes in 2 minutes later and announces that we are making the old classes Rare to make the rare collectors happy but releasing ARMOR versions of the original base classes to make the people who like the classic style happy. It's a very fair deal for everyone. We tweet THAT update.

Artix comes in 15 minutes later having just noticed the art, and announces that mages need robes (many players agree) so the new mage art is rejected. Dage goes back to the drawing board. We tweet that it looks like the art revamp is not coming out tonight.

We decide to release the base class art revamps with the rejected mage as a placeholder, then replace the art with the new and improved (and approved) mage base art next week and release the rejected mage art at some future point. We announce THAT on twitter.

Yorumi informs us, after working for hours to get the double checks in the engine for the old and new base classes that the engine is too large and can no longer compile. He will need time to pull stuff out of the engine to make room for the new code which will take a day at least. No new classes tonight.

We decide to release the new base class art as ARMORS for the time being in the existing trainer shops just to get something out tonight. The armor versions will be permanent additions to the game, just as the new class art will be when they arrive.

All this in addition to all the other Friday craziness that we go through to get the release out. So now you know the whole story. That's what our day has been like. How is yours going?

Amberheat Tower (Tonight's Release)

High atop Amberheart Tower the Blades of Order keep watch over Lore for signs of Chaos. Now a chaotic rift in reality has opened but the Blades have gone missing. Now you must make your way up the tower, avoiding chaos monsters discovering the secrets of the Blades Order to light the beacon at the tower's apex and alert the realm to this new, deadly threat.

Base-ically the Best Versions Ever!

2013 is the year we're going to do things big... and do them right! That's why we're starting off the year with NEW base class art! Because the team's art skills have leveled up SO much in the past few years, we're revamping the base classes, and soon we'll be re-doing Battleon's town and NPC art!*

You will be able to get the new versions of the base class art without creating a character! They'll be sold in the /Trainer shops. And if you saw Dage's blue version of the Healer Class art and prefer that to the red, never fear! That will be released when we re-design Battleon!

The OLD base classes will go ultra-perma rare, but you will still be able to get the art in armor form! If you still have your original mage, warrior, rogue, or healer, you'll get to keep those forever... unless you delete them. But we won't take them from you!

Look for these epic art revamps later tonight!

* We have not forgotten about the verification shop armors! Those are high on Dage's to-do list.

AmberHeart Tower Falls to Chaos!

WatchTower Log - Day 2 of the attack

As I write, the screams of my men rise up from the training grounds below. If I close my eyes, I can see them falling to their knees, heads in their hands. When they look up... through the smoke and anarchy, I can see they are not the boys I trained to guard our world.

Tentacles wrap their forearms, fusing their hands to hilts. Eyes - always watching, looking everywhere - appear like cancers, like pustules all over their bodies. And the laughter...

The sound of their laughter sears my soul. I weep for what they were... and what has become of my mission. I broke away from the battle against my lieutenant and ran up to the records room. As I write this, the wound in my side grows hotter. I will not last much longer.

I hope you read this, Warlic, my friend. Remember our school days, when I told you I was smarter than you? Lie 1. And later, when we crossed Lore battling each other and ourselves, you claimed I would never best you in combat. Lie 2. But this, now... you said you would always come when I needed you.

Yet you aren't here. I never thought that would be Lie 3. Please, hurry! Every Blade of Order will have been Chaorrupted by now. I am too strong to give in to Death, and I can't bear the thought of serving our most hated enemy.

I go now, back downstairs, back to the training ground. To the killing ground. I will fight them all - my men, my friends - because they do not deserve this fate. And neither do I. When you get here - if you do - nothing will be left for you except this wreck of a once-proud watchtower.

Please, light the beacon! Summon aid and warn the world. Amberheart has fallen. Chaos is coming!

Let's Make 2013 the BEST year ever!

Artix said it best when he posted on our homepage:

"Thank you and Happy New Year from all of your friends here at Artix Entertainment! As we begin our adventure into 2013, it is a good time to look back at all of the amazing things we have created together over the past year.

From the three Friday the 13ths, the Dage vs Nulgath war, the surprise twist Valentines Day event, our first Action Figures, the EbilCorp event, stopping the end of the world, and the other 56+ weekly releases... it has been a blast! Looking forward to the new memories we will create together starting *looks at watch* NOW!"

Don't Miss Our First Items of 2013!

Talk to Quibble in Battleon to see the surprise shop an apprentice Time-Travel Fairy has opened! The 2013 Sun and Moon Warrior sets will let you harness the powers of the stars to guide you to victory in the most epic battles AQWorlds has ever seen!

With something for everyone, this shop kicks off the first shop of 2013!

2013 Moon Warrior Armor - 600 ACs

2013 Lunar Battle Helm - 65 ACs

2013 Lunar Watch Cape - 65 ACs

2013 Sun Warrior Armor - 12,013 gold, member-only

2013 Solar Battle Helm - 12,013 gold, member-only

2013 Solar Watch Cape - 12,013 gold, member-only

2013 Lunar Flare Cape - 13,313 gold

The LAST of the 12 Holly-Daily Frostval Quests!

This Friday, we'll release the holliest, jolliest armor ever... IF you've gotten all 12 of your Holi-Daily Merge Shop items! Remember, you need 12 of EITHER the Member Holly-Daily Present (color-customizable!) or the regular Holly-Daily present!

If you weren't able to log on each day for the last 12 days (we know that's hard during the holidays when you're spending time with family and friends), you'll be able to purchase the merge items you need for a hefty amount of gold.

But What About our Frostval Gifts?!

CyserO-Ho-Ho is the one who'll tell you when it's time for those presents to open, but it WILL be soon! Keep an eye on the Design Notes and Twitter for more news!

Chaos is Coming... This Friday!

This Friday, a rift leading to Drakath’s Portal* appears near a lone watch tower. Normally manned by Vormund Vigil-Keeper, an old friend of Warlic and a skilled Battlemage, he and his warriors, the Guardians of Order, have gone missing! Warlic summons you to investigate and take whatever measures are necessary to protect Lore from Chaos!

Journey to /watchtower and battle up to the roof, where you’ll need to light the beacon and summon help! As 2013 begins, the Chaos is only going to get stronger until the final confrontation with Drakath begins... and you will need ALL your strength and wits when that fateful day arrives!

*Would you guys like to be able to SEE Drakath's Chaos Portal and the runes on it, which have been lighting up as you defeat each of the Chaos Lords? Later on, this rift might be a good way to allow you to check your progress!

Thank You Again for Being Awesome in 2012!

We hope you've had a fantastic holiday, filled with laughter and joy! We are so grateful you've battled alongside us through the crazy-awesome releases of 2012 AND all of the lag/bug fixes and improvements you've helped us introduce into the game! Thank you for supporting us by purchasing Memberships and AdventureCoins! We can't wait to work with you to make 2013 the most explosive - and Chaotic - year in AQWorlds' history!